A former Birmingham MP is tipped to win a key role as Speaker of the House of Lords - plunging him into a battle with David Cameron.

Norman Fowler, who represented Sutton Coldfield from 1974 to 2001, will find himself on the front line of a fight between the House of Lords and the Conservative government, if he gets the job.

Prime Minister David Cameron wants to stop the House of Lords inflicting defeats on his Government.

But Lord Fowler has promised his fellow Lords members that he will ensure they are able to continue challenging the Government's plans.

He's the favourite to win the election to choose a new Speaker, although he faces competition from rival candidates Patrick Cormack, the former MP for South Staffordshire, and Liberal Democrat politician Susan Garden.

Members of the House of Lords are to choose the Speaker in a ballot.

While the House of Commons is made up of elected MPs, the Lords contains a number of former MPs - including Lord Fowler - and leading figures from business, universities and trade unions, as well as Anglican bishops.

It has inflicted a series of defeats on the Government, including delaying plans to cut tax credits for some working families. The Government then abandoned the proposal.

But Prime Minister David Cameron wants to take action to stop the Lords blocking his policies.

The Government announced a review into the workings of Parliament last year, and Downing Street said it would examine “how to protect the ability of elected governments to secure their business”.

But Conservative Lord Fowler has promised fellow members of the House of Lords that if he’s elected he will ensure they continue their important work “checking legislation from the Commons”

And the Lords should continue to challenge the Government, he said.

Lord Fowler was a senior Conservative MP when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister

Speaking to members of the House of Lords during a hustings event, he said: “The primacy of the Commons should not mean the unchallenged domination of the executive.” The executive in this case means the Government.

The Conservatives have a majority of MPs in the House of Commons, with 330 out of 650 MPs.

But there are only 247 Conservative members of the House of Lords out of 807 Lords in total, which means the Lords is more likely to vote against the Government.

And the Liberal Democrats have a much larger presence in the Lords. They only have eight elected MPs in the House of Commons, but 109 members of the House of Lords.

The responsibilities of Lords Speaker include presiding over debates in the Lords chamber and meeting visiting dignitaries and heads of state.